Talk Bronx New York

FORUM: “The Young Lords Party: 40 Years Later” with panelists Augustín Lao-Montes, Marta Moreno-Vega, Johanna Fernández, Darnell Enck-Wanzer and Andrés Torres, at Hunter College’s Faculty Dining Room, 8th floor, West Bldg., 6 p.m. Free.

FILM: “El Círculo,” a documentary about Dr. Henry Engler, a former Uruguayan guerrilla leader who was imprisoned for 13 years during his country’s military dictatorship, premieres at El Café at El Museo del Barrio, 6:30 p.m. Free, RSVP to www.elmuseo.org.

CLASSIC: Acclaimed Bolivian guitarist Piraí Vaca at Americas Society, 680 Park Ave., 7 p.m. Free.

THURSDAY 3

FLAMENCO: Chano Domínguez Quintet, a flamenco/jazz combo, presents new interpretation of the 1959 Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue,” at Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St., 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. shows. Cover $30. Through Sunday.

“Los Nutcrackers: A Christmas Carajo” at BAAD!

THEATER: Charles Rice-González’s “Los Nutcrackers: A Christmas Carajo,” a gay-themed Christmas comedy, returns to BAAD!, 841 Barretto St., in the Bronx. Through Saturday and Nov. 10-12. Tickets $20.

“¡Viva Pinocho!” at Pregones Theater.

 SALSA: Cita Rodríguez and her orchestra perform tribute to her late father, Pete (El Conde) Rodríguez, at Latin Tinge Thursdays, Brooklyn Crossroads Supper Club, 402 Third Ave. at Sixth St. in Park Slope, Brooklyn, 6 p.m. Tickets $5-$10, ladies free until 8 p.m. Read more..

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Nadau Lavergne Architects, Antony, France

Nadau Lavergne Architects reimagines the Grand Concourse as a linear urban forest in one proposal in this show at the Bronx Museum of the Arts

Decaying freeways, high-speed trains, levees, bicycle lanes — ever since Hurricane Katrina, infrastructure has been the hot topic among architects and architectural curators across the country. The chatter only grew louder after the Obama administration unveiled its economic stimulus package, igniting hopes of a major national transformation. “Intersections: The Grand Concourse Beyond 100,” which opened at the Bronx Museum of the Arts on Sunday, is the latest show to pick up on this trend.

A result of a nine-month competition sponsored by the museum and the Design Trust for Public Space, the show focuses on seven visions for the future of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx that range from urban farms to high-tech sound barriers for a nearby freeway. Much of the work is by students, and it reflects the kind of earnest idealism that has always been a staple of graduate studios.

However naïve these proposals may seem at first glance, though, they are all conceived at a manageable, human scale. And the more time you spend among them, the more you become aware of both the faded beauty of the Grand Concourse and the remarkable potential for revitalizing this century-old boulevard modeled on the Champs-Élysées. Eventually you begin to feel that the problem is not so much the innocence of planners and architects, but our own indifference and lack of political will.

A highlight of the show is a series of big, glossy photographs by Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao. These are the first things you see, and a revelation: a startling illustration of the insensitive planning that contributed to the boulevard’s decay.

One side of an image taken from the rooftop of a housing project radiates with the vibrant green treetops of the Mosholu Parkway. A thick band of train tracks carves diagonally through the other side of the image, disrupting the calm. The Concourse looks lost and isolated between the two. Read more..

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The Bronx Culture Trolley rolls again on Wednesday, July 1, along South Bronx Cultural Corridor with an evening full of family activities. The evening features six art exhibitions at: Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Synthetic Zero Art Space, LDR Studio Gallery, and Bruckner Gallery at the Bruckner Bar & Grill. The evening will also include a book signing at the Bronx Museum, a visit to the outdoor Tree Museum, a trip to the Alexander Avenue Art and Antiques District, an outdoor literary reading at St. Mary’s Park, and a karaoke after-party at the Bruckner Bar & Grill. The Bronx Culture Trolley is a program of the Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA). Admission to most activities is free and all are welcome to hop on board and enjoy them. Read more..

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To honor the centennial of the Grand Concourse, the Bronx Museum of the Arts has organized a year long, three-part exhibition. The first part, newly opened, traces the boulevard’s history.

Courtesy of the Bronx County Historical Society Research Library A 1919 photograph shows a carriage heading west off the Grand Concourse, toward the elevated train line (now the No. 4 subway) and the growing Highbridge neighborhood. In the background at right is the old Huber’s Hotel, now the site of the new Yankee Stadium. Read more..

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The Hub — the commercial strip around Third Avenue and 149th Street — is among the parts of the South Bronx that some boosters are trying to rebrand as the “Downtown Bronx.” (Photos: David Gonzalez/The New York Times) City and Bronx officials this week trumpeted a major pedestrians and traffic redesign of the Hub, the commercial strip around Third Avenue and East 149th Street. Perhaps it will be more successful than a previous makeover, which tried to rebrand the area as the “Downtown Bronx.”

Fluttering above the heads of officials — and sometimes above the consciousness of local residents — were banners affixed several years ago to lampposts promoting the “Downtown Bronx Shopping District.” Never mind that the term is nothing less than a geographical impossibility to anyone who actually grew up in the Bronx, where “downtown” pretty much meant any place below 125th Street in Manhattan.

This attempt at rebranding stumps many people who walk past those banners daily (as they go to take the subway downtown, of course). Some thought it meant you could catch Manhattan-bound buses. Others said Downtown Bronx was all the way south, up against the river in Port Morris. Few knew they were smack dab in the thick of it.

Banners in the Hub commercial district in the South Bronx calls the area the “Downtown Bronx.”

Jonathan Sanchez, a security guard on his way to work, had no clue where it was. “This is the South Bronx right here,” he said, oblivious to the banner on a nearby lamppost. “Downtown is more like, Manhattan. The South Bronx is, you know, this area. It seems very good. It’s not like it used to be.” Read more..

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